Empower set out to unlock cost savings and sustainability outcomes for businesses and Government through stakeholder engagement and energy-saving behaviour change, delivered through the CarbonCulture.net online engagement platform. By employing a user-centred design process to combine proven techniques from social gaming and behavioural economics, we have developed the CarbonCulture service that delivers high-quality, low cost ways of saving carbon and energy in workplaces, and tested it in a pilot that achieved over 40% voluntary uptake and substantial user support. The service helps businesses actively engage their staff, customers and stakeholders in sustainable behaviours to drive cost savings and maximise the value of sustainability initiatives, going far beyond what can be achieved with traditional engagement approaches. The service is delivered through the CarbonCulture digital platform to deliver high quality user experiences (web-based games, visualisations, utilities & learning apps) and collects empirical performance data to enable continuous improvement. During the project, we have set up and are now delivering CarbonCulture realtime (5-second) energy & carbon reporting for Government Departments including Number 10 Downing St, HM Treasury, Cabinet Office, DECC and Defra. The project has succeeded in engaging staff, communicating carbon performance and enabling staff to unlock cash savings (20% daytime gas use at DECC). We are now bringing the CarbonCulture service to market for corporates to cut bills while delivering engaging, fulfilling experiences to stakeholders. The project partners, brought together by the TSB's sandpit process, are More Associates, Design at Brunel University and WMG at the University of Warwick.
